Welcome to the award winning Mountainfeet!
We're a specialist mountain sports clothing and equipment shop with a keen interest in walking, climbing and running footwear together with the mechanics of the feet and lower limbs.

We think it's paramount that mountain enthusiasts understand the importance of foot health and choice of correctly sized and shaped footwear. We sell all manner of outdoor clothing and equipment but particularly specialise in footwear and expert fitting.

You'll probably find us in a crusading mood if you come into the shop – we've seen many pairs of feet that would have benefited from a service like ours 20 or 30 years ago. So we're very committed to making sure our customers take the best possible care of their feet during sport and educating them in some of the best ways of staying healthy and preserving lower limb function into old age...

We were delighted to receive the 2009 Retailer of the Year accolade from the One Oldham Business Awards panel – it made us feel both humble and proud at the same time! We've also entered the 2010 competition.

What about last month's weather?!!!
A curse for some and a magical sporting wonderland for others – whatever your take on it we hope you stayed safe. Here's a photograph Si took of Pule Hill which had full snow cover on it through much of January and was great for ski touring on.

We were open against the odds every day though the bad weather and have even delivered vital kit to customers ourselves when they couldn't get to the shop in person.

What have the boys been up to?
Marcus has been getting more into winter climbing and ski touring – with the recent conditions he hasn't had to go far! But he's still out most Sundays climbing rock and suffering with the obligatory hot aches as his hands come up to temperature!

Phil has left his full time position at the shop to embark on the first stage of a podiatry degree! All the work with feet and footwear he's done over the last few years has convinced him that feet are where his future lies! Good luck to him – we're not losing him completely as he's working Saturdays and Mondays to supplement his student poverty...

Jane is settling into shop life really well and is already like a family member – our male ego's have been well and truly brought down to size as she is fitter than all of us (apart from Cap) and runs to and from work! Although the snow tested her...

Si had maximum mileage from his ski touring kit through January and also ticked off a little-known local waterfall while the ice was in reasonable nick. He's busy right now putting last minute touches to the ski touring course running in the French Alps in March.

Si and Liz had a good trip out to see their mate Spiny who's working for the excellent Ski Supreme ski school in Courchevel –we stayed with some great folk out there and hooked up with the usual crew of seasonaires.

Tried and tested – new boots at Mountainfeet
Si's been busy trying boots in our range in the cold weather. The boots that have really impressed are the B2 rated Scarpa Charmoz for winter mountaineering and the similar looking but B1 rated Scarpa Cristallo which is a superb, technical walking and scrambling boot capable of taking a walking crampon. Both these boots are GoreTex lined and incredibly light and precise. Si has put many miles on both pairs and used the Charmoz's with the brilliant Grivel Air Tech crampon.

Make sure you don't confuse the new Cristallo with the old one pictured on the Scarpa website in red and yellow – they are out of date. The new model is the one pictured on the left here and suits a surprising number of foot shapes by using the cleverly designed FT last which gives technical fit yet brilliant comfort.

The other new star is the Zamberlan Vioz Plus which takes the original Vioz and beefs it up to 3/4 season capability by virtue of extra stiffness and a durable rand. This is such a success story that we are already running out and desperately trying to get first dabs on the next deliveries.

And of course, the ubiquitous Meindl Burma is still king of the hill for many and the core of our top end traditional leather trekking boots. Make sure that you take advantage of our comprehensive fitting service if buying boots from us – you will probably learn things you didn't know about you feet!

Paramo at Mountainfeet – great winter wear!
After many years of umming and ahhing, we took the plunge and decided to stock Paramo clothing. We'd always been impressed with the function and build of the products but our guys have tended to use more traditional layering systems for their mountain activities.

But we recognised that there is a place for both types of systems in the shop and that Paramo has a very loyal and unswerving following, particularly amongst the walking club fraternity. It's always upset us that we couldn't help aficionados of the brand – well now we can! We have a small core line of product in stock now and can order all lines to suit an individual customer. Call in and check out the new lightweight Quito jacket which you can do just about anything in! Although we're selling out of them fast so we might need to order your size in which would only take a couple of days.

Asics, Salomon, La Sportiva and Inov8 running footwear in stock
Did you know we stock Asics trail running shoes as well as many of the phenomenal Innov8 range. And we've just put in the brilliant Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra adventure racing shoe alongside La Sportiva's impressive and futuristic Crosslite.

For the guys, two shoes of interest for serious trail running are the Roclite 295 and Roclite 315. These are more cushioned than the popular but minimalist Flyroc 310 which we also stock and makes them great for training when harder ground or some road might be encountered.

For the girls, we'd recommend looking at the ladies specific Roclite 282 if you are a serious off roader whilst for those of you who mainly stick to the tarmac we have the Asics Torana 2 which has Gel cushioning at the rearfoot for a really comfortable ride.

Our flagship ladies shoe, the Asics Gel Trabuco has double gel cushioning and duomax arch support to aid correct pronation without orthotics in place.

For the guys again, then we have the mens version of the Torana 2 which is suitable for mild overpronators by virtue of its in built arch support. These shoes are classed as trail suitable shoes but we would be happy pounding the tarmac in them even though they have slightly more aggressive tread patterns than a normal road shoe.

The other shoe, the Roclite 318 GTX, is a great all rounder that can be used for trail running but also functions as a multi-activity shoe and has the added protection of a GoreTex membrane making it ideal for British conditions.

Make sure we have a good look at your feet and running style when you come to try these – we can often spot potential problems that could cause eventual injury and sort them out early.

Nuun tablets for athletes and travellers
Nuun tablets were designed, formulated and tested to keep you optimally hydrated, wherever you are. Nuun tablets come in a tough tube that is water resistant and perfect for carrying in a rucsac or jacket pocket. 1 tube = 6 litres, enough to get you through a couple of days adventure racing or a weeks travelling at least.

Nuun doesn't contain carbohydrate – it supplies the vital electrolytes to replenish the salts lost by the body in heat or exercise and leaves you free to carbo load as required using bars, bananas etc. A brilliant product that is being demanded by more and more of our walkers, runners and mountain bikers. And travellers should definitely carry a couple of packets – particularly if they're going to be in extreme heat.

Si's been trialling Nuun for a few weeks cycling and running and finding them a lot easier to use than powder mixes. Just keep a pack with you wherever you go...

Why not go Geocaching...
As we supply more GPS units to walkers and climbers, some folk are struggling to get to grips with using the technology. Why not log onto the International Geocaching website and go and explore your locality in greater detail? You'll be amazed at what you find out and more than one of our customers have found themselves hooked after taking a casual look on the internet. We are fortunate to have loads of geocaches set up in the Pennines around Saddleworth and Marsden which allow you to plan a walk with an added twist of interest.

For a fantastic Geocaching GPS package which also offers in car UK Sat Nav then look no further than the Garmin Oregon 300 specially bundled with all the UK's National Park Ordnance Survey mapping at 1:50,000. Just ask us to demo it for you...

Click on the GPS image above - the link will show you the nearest geocaches to our shop – just put your own postcode in instead and get searching...

Also in stock is a brilliant package containing a Garmin eTrex H, USB PC cable, a Garmin carry case and £25 worth of Memory Map mapping – enough to cover the whole of the Peak District or a similar size area.

We've been testing the new Memory Map Adventurer 2800 which as far as we can tell is the cheapest fully functioning OS mapping based handheld GPS. Although supplies are limited at the moment, we will have more in during February if you want to reserve one. It's a full solution for most UK walkers as it includes OS mapping for the UK National Park regions.

Cap's Corner (alias the Dog Blog)
Cap's blog has been moved to it's own dedicated page! Just click the link on the left hand menu bar to see what he gets up to at home and in the shop!

But here's a picture of him chilling for you to be going on with!